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Mekaku City Actors is pretty much all I ask for from an anime – it’s engaging, stylish, fun, has a plethora of terrific characters, and features some connections to religion, too. The story of the monster, which began as a bookended theatrical piece for early episodes and was later revealed to be a significant part of the plot, demonstrates these religious ideas most significantly. But it’s the not the symbolism, overdone in anime, that stuck out to me – it was the projection of how people have historically gone on witch hunts in the name of religion.

In college, one of my history courses focused on the witch hunt in Europe. They of course occurred in the U.S. as well. Recent episodes of Mekaku City Actors made me wonder if they happened in Japan, too. Certainly, they occurred there for individuals other than witches (persecution of Christians comes to minds), as they did in the U.S.

Art by きらげら (Pixiv ID 44146031)

Although the Christian community in the U.S. thankfully doesn’t harangue and persecute individuals with the same religious historic religious fervor (barring a few notable exceptions), we do still attack others with words, dirty looks, and protests. Who are the witches of today – the workers at Planned Parenthood? Homosexual and transgender advocates? Some other groups?

Whatever the group is, they all have this commonality – the individuals within these camps are often dehumanized by Christians and others. As with those in Mekaku City Actors who physically hunted Azami, and later Shion and Marry, we have a tendency to categorize people and see them solely by characteristics that we use to define them. We forget that each of us is unique – that we have different circumstances and experiences, and that people are more than a caricature. They are not part of that group; they are real people with real stories. Read the rest of this entry →

Stardf29 reviews episode 3 of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and makes connections between the importance of “thank you” and life lived less legalistically. [A Series of Miracles]

D.M. Dutcher compares Kirino’s treatment of her otakuness in Oreimo to how Christians often treat their faith. [Cacao, put down the shovel!]

In another post, he makes some great comparisons between the humorous hero, Vash the Stampede, and Christ, as well as to scenes in Trigun: Badlands Rumble and the “problem of pain. [Cacao, put down the shovel!]

Japes, who guest-blogged for us earlier this week, is off and running on his own aniblog, beginning with an introduction of his theology. [Japesland]

Japes also brings his faith into a defense of Vocaloid as an artistic expression. [Japesland]

Medieval Otaku points out Christian theology and themes in his review of several manga, including Superior and Vinland Saga. [Medieval Otaku]

So…the Jesus and Buddha characters of Saint Young Men are now being used to market fashion merchandise. Interesting. [Anime News Network]

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As part of the Something More series of posts, each week Beneath the Tangles links to writings about anime and manga that involve religion and spirituality. If you’ve written such a piece or know of one, please email TWWK if you’d like it included.

About the Tangles

Beneath the Tangles is where Ichigo Kurosaki meets Elijah the Prophet; where Haruhi Suzumiya meets Father Abraham; and where Monkey D. Luffy meets Jesus Christ. It is the meeting point between anime and Christian spirituality. We hope to foster an open community where Christians and non-Christians alike can engage in conversation about anime, manga, and belief.

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